For generations, Catholic healthcare ministries have cared for the sick, the elderly, and the dying across New York. Guided by the belief that every life is a precious gift, these ministries accompany those nearing death with medical skill, prayer, and love until God calls them home. But now New York is threatening them with crippling fines, professional sanctions, and even criminal penalties unless they help patients obtain suicide pills in violation of their faith.
On July 17, 2026, Becket filed a federal lawsuit challenging New York’s assisted-suicide mandate on behalf of four orders of Catholic nuns—the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, and the Little Sisters of the Poor—as well as Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre and the Diocese itself. With New York’s agreement, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its assisted suicide mandate while the lawsuit continues. The agreement protects these ministries from being forced to violate their faith and help terminally ill patients end their lives.
Senate Reading Group: Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, Readthrough IV
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